Entry #15
Thursday, October 20
This past day seems to have a distinct animal theme about it. Yesterday I read about a man freeing dozens of wild animals from his Zanesville, Ohio animal farm before committing suicide, resulting 48 animals getting killed, including 18 Bengal tigers and 17 lions. How incredibly tragic, especially considering how many of these poor creatures are already endangered.
Today I read about 2,500 chickens being strewn across the highway in Vacaville, CA, after a truck spilled its load. Even if these critters were soon going to be plucked and wrapped in cellophane, it's still really sad.
While walking Izzie today, I actually saw two white-tailed deer for the first time since I’ve been here. I’ve seen plenty of bronze deer, and enough roadkill to feed a legion of vultures (which hang out by the dozens out here). The only armadillo I’ve seen in The Woodlands has been lying rigor mortis on the side of the road for more than a week and now seems to be decomposing. Clearing dead critters off the streets is evidently not a priority. Hopefully as Izzie and I go off the beaten track in the reserve we’ll see more wildlife that's actually alive, like this little fella:
In today’s here.Houston.com, Tanji Patton writes about brunch at the Tasting Room.
“Brunch is now being served on the weekends with a focus on locally sourced products. And some of the menu items sound like just the kinda food you crave on a lazy Saturday. Ever tried Red Neck Benedict? It’s a Frito pie with fried eggs! Or, if that’s not to your liking, there’s a Red Velvet Waffle with Chicken Wings.”
I never have a craving for Fritos, chicken wings or Red Velvet anything on a Saturday morning, let alone any other day of the week (though as a kid I used to think Fritos were a tasty treat). What’s next? Chicken-fried pancakes with sausage gravy? Omelets with chihuahua cheese and pork cracklins?
Under Houston-area happenings, I just spotted the event my mother-in-law and her sister are here to see:
“Sweet Adelines International Free Performance: “Nearly 7,000 a cappela vocalists from around the world will be performing and competing...from dawn to dusk each day...”
Other activities this week include the Caeser Salad Competition, Zest in the West Grand Zestival, “Deer Camp,” the musical and Texian Market Days Festival (complete with battle re-enactments), and the Fourth Annual Halloween Car Show, among other festivities.
The one event I'd actually like to go to is the PetFest in Old Town Spring:
“In 2010, we had 70+ rescue groups, 50+ vendors, and gave back almost $13,000 to 15 lucky groups. We still emphasize adoptions, education and fundraising but in a much grander scale with approximately 10 amazing committee members helping to put on the event voted as the "Best Pet Event" in the Houston area in a poll by Houston PetTalk Magazine.” —Pet Fest 2011
“For $40 (which goes into the rescue drawing), your pets can get married (wedding attire optional but encouraged!), receive a wedding license, wedding gifts, wedding photo (by Posh Pet Photography ), have a reception in their honor at the Yappy Hour and their human parents will receive 2 tickets to the Yappy Hour reception after the wedding...and music!”
I told Noah about the goofy pet weddings and said, "Izzie’s too young to get married."
4:30 p.m. We stopped at two places on the way home after school. The first place was to get bagels (the $2.50/baker’s dozen special before closing). I was exactly seven minutes early and was told to wait until exactly 3:45, not a second soon. While waiting, a woman in a green suede jacket that happened to match the Brooklyn Café’s painted walls came and sat next to me and started talking nonstop.
From the time she sat down, until the time I ordered the bagels, I learned that she had children and grandchildren, was widowed but remarried, had lived overseas (in Singapore and Egypt) doing missionary work with her first husband, and that her daughter who is now working for the government and living in Arlington, Virginia, but visiting right now, really likes “everything” bagels with pumpkin cream cheese. She grew up in small towns in Texas and came to the Woodlands in 2001. I learned all this in less than five minutes without saying a word. Upon leaving the café, she said goodbye and “God bless you.”
The second stop was at Walgreen’s pharmacy to pick up an antibiotic for Noah. I was initially going to be charged $224.36, a significant discount off the $866.99 retail price (it was written on the printout), but even that price was outlandish. Antibiotics are usually pretty cheap. I dug up a coupon the dermatologist had given me and then suddenly the prescription was absolutely free! So I essentially had a coupon for $866.99 off the retail price. That’s the best coupon EVER!
Upon getting home, I put away the holiday cards I purchased from a site called Minted (yes, I already ordered them...) and read the invoice card:
“Our art is sourced from a global community of indie designers...” The person who designed my card happens to live in San Francisco. Gosh, I'm predictable.
5:30 p.m. I just read on the SF Chronicle online that there was a 3.9 magnitude earthquake this afternoon. I wrote to several friends and they said they definitely felt it, but there was virtually no damage. Phew. Still, earthquakes are very unsettling, to say the least. A friend of mine said she had an earthquake drill just this morning, only to encounter a real one in the afternoon.
Apparently there was a “record-breaking” earthquake today in south Texas, too. We didn’t feel it, though, since the epi-center was near San Antonio, several hours away.
Another piece of less earth-shaking news: San Francisco came out on top as the best city for trick-or-treating. Other prime trick-or-treating cities include Boston, Honolulu, Seattle and Chicago. Not a single Texas city made the top 20, to my surprise. People are really into Halloween here.
So says Zillow, a real estate data website, which last year placed us at No. 2 behind Seattle. This year, Boston, Honolulu, Seattle and Chicago round out the Top 5. To come up with its rankings, Zillow calculated each city’s median home value, walkability, population density and crime. In short, wealthy places that are walkable, crowded and low on crime make excellent trick-or-treating destinations. —SF Gate, 10/20/11
Friday, October 21
I happened upon some funny Texas sayings, many of which I've never heard:
(hot) “It’s been hotter’n a goat’s butt in a pepper patch.”
(lazy) “He’s like a blister—he doesn’t show up till the work’s all done.”
(poor) “I ate so many armadillos when I was young, I still roll up into a ball when I hear a dog bark.”
(pretentious) “He’s all hat and no cattle.”
(Texas advice) “Never ask a man if he’s from Texas. If he is, he’ll tell you on his own. If he ain’t, no need to embarrass him.”
(big) “Big as all hell and half of Texas.”
(confused) “I don’t know whether to scratch my watch or wind my butt.”
(crazy) “His cheese done slid off his cracker!”
10:00 a.m. After dropping off the kids at school, I heard on NPR that there’s a new Civil War exhibit at Houston’s Museum of Natural Science. The 150th anniversary of the American Civil War has spurred a new wave of interest, though it’s never really waned in the South.
The museum's exhibit, consisting of National Archives documents, artifacts from the collection of Houston businessman John Nau, and items salvaged from the USS Westfield, sunk in the January 1863 Battle of Galveston, rarely strays from its mission of telling the war's story from the bottom up.
Many items on display never have been publicly exhibited. Highlights include the original copy of the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery and South Carolina's 1860 declaration of secession. For a few days in February, the original copy of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation will be exhibited, as well.
—chron.com 10/13/11
Friday, October 21
While giving blood yesterday for David's corporate health insurance, I was prodded so deeply, my arm actually started to burn. The nurse poked me in my right arm, but could only get a few drops, then said, “Well, I blew that vein!” Then she poked my left arm twice, again, pushing the needle in extra deep. The last time I experienced this sensation was when my arm was punctured by a dog bite.
David, on the other hand, got his blood drawn by another nurse and said, “That was easy!” Today both my arms are black-and-blue. David’s are perfectly fine.
So, when I had to go and get my blood drawn AGAIN today, I was not exactly feeling all that chipper about it. Turns out I had to give five vials for a complete physical. I asked the technician to give me a (smaller) butterfly needle, with hopes that this would work better. She wanted to try the standard size first, but I showed her my arms and she got the butterfly without question.
While preparing, she faced away from me and I could see a prominent tattoo on the back of her neck, with two Asian characters. I asked her what it meant. She said, “strong mother,” and proceeded to tell me it was in honor of her seven-week old baby who died, her only son. Talk about a heartbreaker. I then found out she has two other kids, both girls, and one with autism. Her younger daughter is seemingly normal, though doesn’t want to go to sleep. “She don’t want to miss nothin’,” the technician said. Made me really thankful for my two great kids. And despite the fact that she didn’t speak grammatically correct English, she was great at her job. One needle, five vials, no burning sensation. Relief.
Afterwards, I had to fill up with gas, so I drove to the station across the street, stopped my car, and proceeded to take out my credit card. The stations, however, didn’t seem to be turned on. I must’ve looked like the dumbest female, just standing there staring at a non-working gas pump, because a man came up to me smiling, and said, “Darlin’, we’re not open yet...another two, three weeks.” Oh. Seems this place was under construction. Had I bothered to notice that there was still fencing around the place and absolutely no one else parked to get gas but me, I might’ve gotten the hint. While driving out of this gas station-to-be, the other construction worker, a dude with a mullet cut and bandana, smiled at me and waved good-bye, chuckling to himself. Really embarrassing.
We had little food in the house and hungry guests here, so I went to the HEB near the downtown center. En route I passed a store called “Extreme Lashes.” Can a store dedicated solely to eyelashes actually make enough money to pay the rent? How many people around here are walking around with eyelash extensions? I’ve heard of hair extensions, but didn’t know people actually do the same thing with little eyelashes.
Saturday, October 22
12:00 p.m. I was a few minutes early picking up Noah from bowling, so I sat down, looked around and observed the place. One thing I noticed were the number of obese people, not just adults, but kids, too. The second thing I noticed was how seriously people take bowling there. Many of the parents stick around to cheer and keep records of their scores. Noah said that cheering bowlers is like cheering for ping pong players.
There was a teenage girl who scored 280 today and that was impressive. I could maybe get that score if I added up the sum of three decent-for-me games.
Since it was lunchtime when I picked Noah up, I stopped at Hubbell and Hudson to get him a sandwich. There was a long line of people at the entry, and others clumped around the store drinking wine and eating small platters of food. Apparently the catering service was giving tastings for $5, as well as wine and cheese tastings. People go bonkers for free (or really cheap) food, it seems.
We saw more evidence of this at the Taste of the Village fair on our way home after the kids’ basketball game this afternoon. Between David, Noah, and Aidan, they had a free hot dog, two bags of Pirates’ Booty, two generous frozen yogurt samples, two tastings of pasta marinara, two lollipops, and some other candy bits. Darth Vader was walking around, too, inspiring the table that was making free balloon animals to create light sabers. One table had flyers for a catering company/dinners delivery service called “Healthy Enough.”
Sunday, October 23
You never know what you’ll find on Etsy, and whoever the marketing manager is, seems to be pretty brilliant. Here’s what was featured on today’s site, among other items. I think he or she must know I live in an area where mounted heads are a primary source of interior design. However, they cost more than twice as much as the real thing at $800/piece. I think I'll stick to two-dimensional artwork for now...
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